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Another great option (but in 36 cm height) is: https://amzn.to/2RSTqQN. This one has some great user reviews.
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But have you ever wondered: How well do these ideas resonate with my company? After-all, no two companies and their employees are alike. So shouldn't there be a different reward and way of recognizing someone who is an excellent closer in your sales team and for someone who is excellent at making clients feel at ease? How do we achieve this?
We, at Engrave Awards, believe that every employee brings something unique to the table and the best way to encourage their personalities to shine is by recognizing their whole, authentic selves with titles unique to them. This led to the launch of our creative recognition awards. They are listed, categorized and described for you in pithy detail below.
Few go above and beyond the call of duty. But it is needed. Excellence demands it. So the ones that do go the extra mile deserve to be recognized. From Mission Impossible to Deadline Destroyer, we have 15 different titles in this category. You can have a look at them here.
Good customer service is a game changer. The best organisations excel at it. And recognize those who enable it. That is what these creatively titled awards celebrate. We have 16 titles in this category and you can check them out here.
Peers are just as important as supervisors. When appreciation and recognition comes from peers, it feels extra special. Here are some creative ways to enable this motivator in your organization.
A safe workplace is a happier, more productive, more welcoming workplace. To help you reward those who work hard to make this a happy reality, we have 5 unique titles under safety awards. You can check them out here.
Your sales team is the engine of the organisation. Show them how much their work means to you with memorable awards that inspire and keep them going. Check out the entire range here.
Top performers belong to a select group. Make them feel that way. Motivate your stars to soar even higher with one or more of our creative, singular, and eye-catching Top Performer Recognition Awards. You can check out the entire range here.
New beginnings can be daunting, especially when it comes to jobs. Make it welcoming and fun with these creative welcomes.You can check out the entire range here.
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Happier employees are more productive in a variety of ways that companies cannot afford to ignore. We've looked at ways in which our awards can make work fun - and that led to our popular range of awards with funny titles and superlatives.
List of Superlatives and Funny Office Awards
While it's helpful to keep the award titles light and fun, they should also be relevant, appropriate and sincere. So, here's our list of 100+ exciting fun office awards for employees and co-workers - ones they would surely cherish and love to show off.
Check out these and many more fun and creative recognition awards here.
If you have ideas for additional unique and fun office awards, do mail them to us on sales@engraveawards.com or add a comment below.
]]>Google it, and you find scores of methods, tried and tested by experts, a plethora of formulae to calculate the quality of hire in the pre-hiring and post-hiring stage, scaling it across teams, and how it has impacted business outcomes in the long run.
The term may mean different things for different organizations, based on the nature of their business, number of employees, future goals and expected returns. It may be any of, or a combination of factors like employee performance, turnover rates, employee engagement and cultural fit.
It is precisely for this reason and the fact that the whole exercise is time-consuming (it might take up to a year) that most organizations do not undertake this exercise.
However, research has shown that determining the quality of hire in a systematic way can have far-reaching benefits for the organization, in terms of reduced costs of hiring, employee engagement and productivity.
If it is really so difficult, is it worth going through the effort? Turns out, it does have a lot of benefits!
If you’re not hiring the best of the available talent, you’re not raising the quality of your workforce! Measuring quality of hire by position will tell you how well you’re doing from an end-to-end standpoint.
Breaking down the process of hiring, to determine the quality of hire helps identify what’s working for you - and what isn’t! For instance, tracking the candidate quality, right at the time of sourcing, can help calculate the ROI by sourcing channels.
By comparing the pre-hire and post-hire quality (described below) of hire, you can determine the predictive value of your assessment process.
A lot of people are unable to perform to their potential, because they are doing work they don’t like, don’t fit the company culture, or possibly don’t get along with their colleagues or managers. Quality of hire needs to take these differences into account as well.
Determining the quality of hire means understanding not only what type of candidates are suitable for your organization, but also getting the best out of them and ensuring longevity in your organization.
If you know the qualities of candidates required by your organization, you develop a foolproof method which helps you hire the right fit, every time!
Quality of hire can be measured in 2 stages of the recruitment process, that is the pre-hire stage and the post-hire stage.
It is important to measure the quality of pre-hire quality along with post-hire, as per talent leader and author Lou Adler. It allows recruiting leaders to predict the quality of hire for any recruiting campaign 30-60 days before the people are actually hired. It helps you make sure that the people you are hiring continue to be your best performers long after you've hired them.
Here are some ways you could get a rough idea about the candidates you're hiring before/during the selection process
This can be quite a challenge, as there are many factors that influence new joinees after the hiring process is completed. Many of these factors may be out of the purview of the hiring team and hence, cannot guarantee post-hire quality.
Using the best recruitment practices may assure you of bringing in the best talent in the industry, however, it is no guarantee that the talent you bring in will be an excellent performer or even that he will stay long enough in your company to actually make a difference!
It may be that a great candidate has a not-so-good boss or that a team could not fully optimize high performers. Great talent is always in demand, so you may lose your star hire to one of your competing firms!
External factors like these cannot be controlled and hence, are not a reflection on the recruiting teams.
Typically, in any organization, new hires are evaluated on
Getting and analyzing data on the pre and post-hire consideration is the easy part!
To determine the quality of hire, it is important to link the results to business outcomes to arrive at a decisive conclusion. There are two deciding factors to measure business objectives, namely, reduced costs and increased revenue.
Has improved quality of hire reduced costs for the company? This may be due to faster and more effective recruitment processes, reduced employee turnover and higher productivity in the shortest time possible.
Have the new hires contributed directly or indirectly towards increased revenues, increase in sales, reduced vacant positions?
This understanding could give you a realistic calculation of the quality of your hires and returns to the organization vis-a-vis costs incurred.
Each business has its own perception of performance, value, and productivity. However, the above-mentioned factors like job performance, ramp-up time to reach optimum productivity levels, employee engagement and cultural fit with the organization could be outlines to measure the quality of hire almost universally.
Talent acquisition teams should fine-tune their hiring processes to reflect their organization’s strategic goals to ensure hiring the right candidate, for the right job!
]]>A recent study by workplace solution provider Steelcase along with research firm IPSOS to measure dimensions of employee engagement found that over a third of employees worldwide are disengaged!
An ‘engaged employee’ is one who is involved with his job, enthusiastic and highly productive and contributes significantly to the organization. In reverse, a ‘disengaged employee’ is one who is unhappy with his job, doing just enough to get by and adding little value if any, to the organization. The most toxic is probably an “actively disengaged employee” who may be actually working against the organization he works for!
Why do employees disengage themselves from the organisation?
The reasons could be many or specific to a particular employee. It could be the lack of effective leadership, the monotony of work, insufficient monetary benefits, or not getting along with coworkers or bosses.
Almost all organizations experience low engagement levels at some point, bringing down productivity, profitability and hitting the bottom line hard!
In a TimesJobs survey, it was found that during the disengagement phase their staff had seen 40% higher absenteeism, 50% more accidental cases, and 75% more errors and defects in the daily tasks.
Whereas, with improvement in engagement levels organizations have enjoyed a rise of over 50% in productivity!
Employee disengagement can give out very subtle signs, at least in the beginning. Organisations have to be vigilant before it starts impacting their bottom line!
So how do you recognize the signs of disengagement? Here are some of the sure signs of disengagement among your employees!
Disengaged employees do not put in extra efforts to improve their work productivity or performance. They try and get by doing minimal work required for their positions and may avoid development opportunities or new challenges at work. They lack enthusiasm and initiative and have no desire for growth. They seem disinterested in their performance and its role in the organization’s success.
Disengaged employees often like to work alone, and avoid interaction and collaboration with their co-workers. They start to minimize their social interactions. They may avoid company social functions or outings and not participate in meetings. Social withdrawal could be one of the early signs of disengagement from the organization, even though the employee’s individual performance may continue to be good.
Notice a decline in productivity of an erstwhile good performer? He may be missing deadlines or submitting below-par assignments. Or you may notice him doing bare minimum work that his position requires and not really putting in efforts towards creative or innovative thinking.
A disengaged employee may be frequently absent from work or take long extended breaks during the day. He may walk in late or leave early, resulting in incomplete assignments and overpaid wages.
A disengaged employee requires frequent pushing and motivation to contribute. One way to motivate down-and-out employees would be to reward them appropriately for their achievements - big or small. This would nip the problem in the bud, and ensure a surge in productivity.
While all of us complain about our jobs or bosses at some time, excessive grumbling or complaining about the job or the organization should definitely ring warning bells. Disengaged employees do not take ownership of their responsibilities, rather they prefer to pass on the blame to others. They may make frequent excuses for shoddy work or their inability to perform.
Disengaged employees may show an overly pessimistic attitude towards work, seniors or the organization itself. Their negative actions may create similar ripples over their own or other teams, making it toxic and energy draining.
Disengaged employees do not trust their superiors or the top management. They do not open up or share issues and generally have a resentment towards the senior management.
Frequent complaining and excessive negativity by one or few disengaged employees may affect the morale of the team and consequently that of the whole organization, even that of engaged employees.
You may notice a significant fall in the number of employee referrals for open positions within the company. Is it the negative talk of some disengaged employees that is discouraging candidates to apply for you?
Are many of your best workers on their way out? This is a sure sign that your employees are disengaged and dissatisfied and that the company is not doing enough to retain talent.
Have your long-term and trusted customers been withdrawing lately? It might be that a disengaged employee or team has impacted the way they speak to customers and outside parties, costing the company its reputation and clients, ultimately leading to loss of business!
It is important for organizations to keep a watch out for signs of employee disengagement at all times, as it can have a direct bearing on its business and brand name. To bring back the enthusiasm and productiveness of disengaged employees, organizations have to first understand the reasons for disengagement and work on sustainable solutions.
]]>Companies are trying to figure out the right solution to combat rising health issues and healthcare costs by creating awareness, providing information and creating supportive environments to make the office a healthy and happy place to work.
Employees spend most of their day at work, and hence, are most reachable in their workplaces. An employee’s health impacts how he does his job and therefore affects workplace productivity. Factor in costs related to employee absenteeism, replacement costs and health insurance expenses - and it becomes imperative for organisations to promote a good and healthy lifestyle among its employees.
All this is very well, I can hear you say. What if I am a small to a mid-sized organisation and don’t have the millions to spend on a state-of-the-art gym? Or provide subsidized health food to my employees?
The good news is, a wellness program that doesn't have to cost you the moon! We show you how in 2 easy steps!
This will provide you with a good understanding of what your audience wants and give you the direction to start.
We bring you some do-able and budget-friendly ways to make this possible!
Here are some ways you can ensure a fit workforce without emptying the coffers!
Small changes often yield the best results. Encourage employees to opt for healthier food. Here are some ideas.
Staying hydrated enough is also necessary for employee fitness! Thanks to stressful schedules, employees can often forget to take the much-needed sips of water between work.
Wellness is not always only about the body. It is important to promote emotional well-being too!
You could organize volunteer days, where the entire office comes together for a cause, like a beach clean-up or a charity marathon. Find out what causes interest your employees and this could also work as a team-building experience.
Many companies organize an annual “Family Day” or “Kids@work” day on a regular working day to break the monotony of a typical work week.
Allow your employees to bring their pets to work. It is a well-known fact that spending time with four-legged friends reduces stress and brings joy.
Commitment to wellness should start at the top and trickle down to the lower levels of the organization. Incorporate health and well-being into every activity or decision that the company makes.
Implementing employee wellness need not mean allocating a big budget, but should be simple and effective. Employee wellness is more to do with your intent and less about swanky facilities. Some simple changes in your office routine could do wonders! All on a shoestring budget!
]]>Fear is a major work culture killer! It slows organizations down, drives stress, and keeps individuals from reaching their potential in effectively supporting their organizations.
The most crippling aspect of working in a fear-based workplace is that it is not easily identifiable. It hurts the company’s bottom line in the long run, as nobody likes working in a stifling environment.
Here are some striking signs that you might be running a fear-based work culture and ways to beat it!
If you notice these signs, you are working for or running a fear-based organisation!
There is too much reliance on managers and HR people, as people cannot think in an independent manner without fear.
They follow the rule book and refuse to act if there is a need to deviate from the set policies. Problems are never discussed openly and even if they are, reaching a consensus is impossible!
One of the things that human beings fear the most is being humiliated and that too publicly. The people who propagate fear in a workplace know that it is not necessary to humiliate everyone - they pick out one person every once in a while and humiliate them in a board meeting or some large gathering.
This instils fear amongst the rest of the people of the same thing happening to them. A lot of times people are humiliated in front of the HR, just to validate the entire episode! Such behaviours can end up scarring people for life.
In a fear-based work culture, the smartest and most capable employees do not get promoted. Instead, people who are ready to give in to their superior’s wishes and perform their actions as they are commanded are given more importance; while those who question the norms and try to approach every problem from a practical standpoint are ignored.
During annual review sessions or other team meetings, the discussions seem premeditated.
Open sessions hardly fulfil the need to gather an honest feedback from the concerned employees, instead questions are carefully curated and nobody addresses the elephant in the room. The unsaid rule is, ask questions but only the ones the leaders want to be asked.
A supportive atmosphere at work means stronger unity and co-workers pulling for one another. But if you are in a fear-based work culture, co-workers tend to exchange a lot of rumours and share gossip, causing mistrust and competition. There are constant fabricated talks floating around and people feel confused and unsure of things at the same time.
Whether your employees fear retaliation, punishment, humiliation, or being fired, such emotions quickly leads to dissatisfaction and lowers productivity levels. While a culture of fear may temporarily make people work harder to try to avoid undesired consequences, leading through fear will always backfire on you, especially when it comes to retention. Here are some ideas that you can implement to completely weed out fear from your workplace
Too many rules reflect too little trust. When you really trust your team, you do not need as many rules. Reaching the point where that level of trust permeates the culture completely is important, because trust if a fear-buster that will result in employees feeling better about the company and its leadership team.
When mistakes occur at workplace, rather than getting upset and reprimanding the employee, try and determine what exactly went wrong. Were expectations unclear? Was a faulty system or process in place? Then sit down and ask the employee what happened and what could be done to prevent it in future. Most importantly, managers must be willing to share their own mistakes. This sends an important message that mistakes are considered opportunities for learning and helps in removing fear in employees minds.
Since fear keeps people from saying what they really think, turning them into people pleasers rather than problem solvers, it can result in the leadership team having a skewed view of what’s really happening in the business. So in practice, this principle simply means that seeking out the truth should be the top priority. Its everyone’s job in the company to constantly seek the truth out and try to improve the things, which requires candid feedback and input. It requires the absence of fear.
Encourage team members to share ideas openly without filtering or trying to assess whether the ideas have merit. The best brainstorming is unfiltered, and if you are interested in generating the best ideas, employees need to feel safe enough to express themselves freely.
Our employees spend most of their waking hours at the workplace and hence it is our duty to create a stress-free environment devoid of any fears, to get the best out of them.
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The workforce, today, is mainly comprised of the millennials - a generation known for ‘job-hopping’! However, it is no longer considered a stigma - since leaving an organisation is no longer considered as an opportunity lost. In fact, most companies prefer keeping in touch with their former employees.
The existing war for talent is one of the major reasons why ex-employees are now considered a valuable resource. One of the ways of keeping in touch with them is through corporate alumni networks.
Did you know that the alumni of Paypal are actually founders of big names like LinkedIn, YouTube, Tesla, Yammer, SpaceX?
Establishing an alumni network is not so tough! You could either appoint one of your employees and entrust the responsibility of collating details of all ex-employees, spearheading programs and meetings, etc. You could also have a special group handling all alumni-related activities, such as conducting meetings, having events, creating alumni newsletters, etc. There are companies that manage all this for you too!
Let’s look at the many advantages of having an employee-alumni network!
Keeping in touch with your former employees through alumni programs has the following advantages:
What can be more beneficial to the HR team than getting former employees to join back the workforce!
They possess all the insider knowledge about the company process and culture so there is no need to train them excessively. They also come back more experienced and with a fresh perspective.
Rehiring costs are 50% cheaper than hiring a brand new employee. In addition, rehires prove more productive in their work and tend to stay longer.
Like they say, ‘a known devil is better than the unknown angel’. Having access to ex-employees makes the hiring process easy since you never know how a rookie employee you hire will turn out to be.
On the contrary, you possess at least some knowledge about ex-employees or references and can predict their suitability to a particular job role to some extent.
Former employees act as referrals, making the hiring process a lot easier.
They are aware of company demands and work culture and use their knowledge to bring in candidates who fit the required profile better.
Another important benefit is that the employee alumni networks can provide outsider information on effective business practices, hot business trends, competitive information and more.
Conducting polls through the alumni forum can provide you with a wealth of information regarding the top industry trends and rumors about emerging technologies. You can surely trust former employees better than some random people.
In fact, a popular fortune 100 technology company invites business plan proposals from its alumni network to gain insight on promising ideas and trends. You can leverage the expertise of former employees as potential market research sources.
You can never deny the benefits of word of mouth recommendations in business. Your employee alumni network can refer new customers or even possibly become a potential customer.
When employees move on, they also tend to move up the ladder and you can possibly connect with key prospects, decision-makers and influencers to win new customers. Tap into alumni data to identify former employees who are currently working at companies that you are considering for business.
Try introducing reward-based incentives in your alumni for new referrals and reap the benefits.
A well-connected and loyal alumni can be used as a great medium to help you grow your talent brand. They can spread the word on social media advocating your brand as an outsider.
They could promote your marketing initiative or product on social media pages like Facebook, or Twitter.
With social media on the rise, negative reviews on sites like Glassdoor and others will strongly impact your company, especially if you have a poor exit strategy for employees.
Having a strong alumni network boost your goodwill as a company, and fortify your brand position and reputation.
Of course, the better the work environment, the more employees stick to your company. But the hard truth is that there are a lot of companies and jobs out there that can be better than yours. So when an employee moves on, you should enable them to look back at your company and say “Wow. I miss working there, that was a great place to work.”
One way to ensure that your employees will cherish their experience of working with you is having an excellent reward and recognition program.
From hiring candidates to referrals, yielding intelligence and brand advocacy, the benefits of corporate alumni networks are immense. Rather than closing the door and saying goodbye once and for all, why not keep the door open for mutual benefit?
]]>Researchers have characterized burnout as a state of exhaustion, ineffectiveness, cynicism and reduced personal fulfillment. A burned out brain can’t concentrate as easily or separate itself from problems. But burnout doesn’t just affect the individual, its symptoms are contagious and can quickly infect your entire workplace.
The emergence of smartphones and 24/7 access to the internet has managed to invade the privacy of employees. Post work emails are a common aspect of life for most of them and a quick response is often always expected. This can have serious effects not just on the health of employees but also on their productivity levels.
Let's understand how we can identify employee burnout and ways to correct it!
Here are a few ways to know when an employee might be close to having a burnout!
You know an employee is feeling the burnout when he is frequently applying for leave and calling in sick on work days. Some may be unable to get out of bed, experiencing chronic stress and work overload, while others may just be completely demotivated by their work or having to deal with their colleagues or managers.
It also gets difficult for such employees to focus on their work as they are constantly feeling stressed, which results in them making a lot of mistakes or accidents. This can get worrisome especially if they are handling heavy machinery, dealing with very intricate detail or when the safety of others lies in their hands.
While there could be many reasons for employee engagement going down, one of the reasons could be that she is feeling burned out. You will find that he or she disconnects from the team mentally.
Some visible signs of an employee feeling disengaged are refusing to communicate in team meetings or with his coworkers, sitting with his arms crossed instead of offering helpful inputs to a problem or simply being glued to his desk all the time.
If your employee is past the point of caring and feels detached from his/her environment, find out the causes and severity of the situation before it spirals out of control!
Understanding your employee mindset can turn out to be your blessing in the long run, as half the battle is won once you understand where the problem lies.
Speak to your employees and know the personality traits of your workforce. People who naturally take criticism more personally and feel more victimized than the average may cause them to feel a lot of emotion.
So when facing difficult days at work, they are likely to be more vulnerable and make mountains out of molehills. Figure out who in your team is most sensitive and more likely to feel the burnout. While it is not necessary that such people are definitely bound to feel burned out, but this concoction of personality traits can make a person feel that what they are doing is never good enough.
A decrease in sales, frequent deadlines missed or an increase in client complaints are all signs of an employee getting lazy and his productivity levels dipping. If your typically dependable consistent employee suddenly turns unreliable and lax, there is a chance that they are feeling overworked or burned out! They might just not be enjoying their work anymore. He might feel less motivated, less committed and less interested in the customer experience.
Here are some ways you can tackle employee burnouts!
In a study conducted recently, about 40% of all workers noted that their job was highly stressful, regardless of the industry.
The most commonly cited factors that cause stress include people they work with, the absence of work-life balance, lack of job security and too much of workload. The best way to handle employee burnout is to open a conversation about it with them.
Talk to them and understand the cause of low performance. By offering a way for employees to discuss what is causing them stress, you may be able to make simple changes to bring the spirit of the workplace back up.
Give them a chance to open up about the issues they face. While some may be genuinely struggling under the huge pile of work assigned to them, some may be facing problems in their personal lives which might be ultimately reflecting in their work. Talk to them like a buddy and work out a solution that suits both your needs.
It is important to understand that nobody can produce great results at work if they are feeling controlled and governed all the time. This alone is one of the major factors of people around you feeling stressed and burned out. This is especially true with millennials, that are characterized by a need to work on their own, with little interference, and more autonomy.
Set policies and systems in your workplace in a way that does not leave your employees feeling handicapped, say in a situation when they become so dependent on you for solutions, that they are unable to take independent decisions when you are not around.
Do not micromanage your employees, which can have some really serious consequences, employee burnout being one of them.
It can feel uninteresting to continuously work on similar projects week after week. One of the best ways to keep the employees’ workload under control and interest consistently up is to make sure that each team member’s workload is varied.
For example, your senior manager might be juggling with too many high paying clients in his portfolio, feeling burned out and stressed with too much work pressure. While another employee might be feeling less challenged and bored at work. Do not hesitate in assigning a big client to a junior employee, which will not only get him more experience but also aid the senior employee by having a chance to breathe.
Get your team excited by assigning them variations of work, say a creative writing assignment to an employee who spends most of her days analyzing and researching the company numbers. This will instil a new confidence in them regarding their capabilities and bring out renewed energy and excitement towards their work.
One of the best ways to help your burned out employees recover is to reward them for their accomplishments.
While you are on the right track to alleviate the burn out your employees are feeling, understand that getting rid of it isn’t a very quick process.
As a manager, read between the lines and know when your employees are feeling overworked or drained at work.
When you surely know so, step in and take corrective measures. You will notice happier, more productive employees which is a win-win for both you and your team!
]]>In most cases of such ‘no call, no show’ absence from work, in other words, employers are still obligated to find out the reason for the absence.
This is mainly because sometimes employees are unable to notify the employer of their absence for reasons that are out of their control such as medical emergencies, personal crises etc. However, if you are unable to establish a reasonable excuse for continuous absence, chances are that it is a case of job abandonment.
In such a scenario, it becomes important to take certain steps in regards to job abandonment to avoid potential legal consequences.
Here are some ways to deal with employees who’ve abandoned ship.
Since there is no law for job abandonment, it is really up to you to decide ways to deal with it for your organisation. Put it up in the employee handbook so everyone knows that after three uninformed absences in a row, for example, a position will be considered abandoned and the employees to have voluntarily ended employment. You should also list out the actions you will take to wrap things up.
The first thing you should reasonably try doing is contacting the employee. Use all media of communication such as phone, email, text message or even a letter by courier. The idea is to make an attempt to reach the individual and understand the reason for their absence from work and whether they will be returning.
By now, all your attempts of contacting the employee must have reached him and typically you should wait at least a week and a half to two weeks to hear back from him, should the employee be in a medical emergency. Give the employee the benefit of doubt and wait for them to call with a reasonable explanation for their absence from work. It can get tempting to begin the termination process to tie up the loose ends, but it will be all in vain if the employee does submit acceptable documentation explaining his absence.
Pay the employee what they are entitled to. This includes all hours, overtime, and commissions. Keep in mind that you cannot and should not withhold their final paycheck as a means to get the employee to return any company property currently in his possession.
Your absenteeism policy should be the same for everyone. You can’t turn a blind eye to someone that’s had three no call, no shows while you go ahead with the termination of employment process for someone who’s failed to call in only once. Be consistent to ensure a fair company structure, discipline and transparency.
Not having a well-defined job abandonment policy in place can cripple your workflow and result in you holding a position for someone that doesn’t take it seriously. Your policy should be written with the help of an HR consultant and legal team to ensure it covers all the essentials.
Following are some points that should form a part of your job abandonment policy:
List out the consecutive number of days that an employee can miss from work without notice before a voluntary termination of employment is upheld. Basically, it should be about what you expect from the employee in terms of timely notification of absence.
What actions will you take against the employee if they fail to notify their supervisor of their absence from work? Here you should list that you will consider their absence from work as grounds for voluntary termination of employment.
What can the employee do if they cannot personally notify you of their absence from work? Make sure you let employees know that they can assign a representative (usually a friend or family member) to contact their employer on their behalf.
What will you base your final decision on whether or not to terminate employment? Explain to employees that you will consider their explanation for their absence from work before the job abandonment policy takes effect. Consult a lawyer before taking any decision to avoid unwanted litigation and more wastage of time.
]]>Neurodiversity is a relatively new term that refers to the people who have dyslexia, autism, ADHD, dyspraxia and other neurological conditions.
Such people can have unique strengths, ranging from data-driven thinking to sustained focus over longer periods, ability to spot patterns and trends and the capacity to process information at extraordinary speeds; all of which are great qualities for a company to have. However, due to lack of awareness, neurodiverse individuals do not even get considered for a job in the corporate world.
Let’s understand neurodiversity better, how having them onboard can have huge benefits for a company and what measures a company should take to welcome them!
What has kept so many companies from taking on people with the skills they badly need? It comes down to the way they find and recruit talent and decide whom to hire.
Especially in large companies, HR processes are developed with an eye towards wide application across the organisation. But there is a conflict between scalability and the goal of acquiring neurodiverse talent. Two major problems cause companies to miss neurodiverse talent:
The benefits of recruiting a neurodiverse workforce are wide-ranging and transformative. From leading innovations and help, marketers achieve true diversity of thought, to enriching the wider company culture, having a neurodiverse workplace makes strong business sense.
Let’s have a look at the few skill sets that can benefit any organisation:
Once inside an organisation it is crucial that people with neurodiverse conditions are supported in order to achieve their full potential.
A big part of the traditional hiring process is the interview, which allows the employer to assess how well the potential employee will fit with the rest of their workforce. But when you are hiring for neurodiversity, the standardised interview process is not very relevant.
They might not possess the smooth social skills that play well in a traditional interview, which is why a more skills-based approach is recommended. Set up an interview that allows the potential employee to demonstrate their work rather than how well they can articulate why they should be hired.
Measures that should be taken while holding an interview:
Avoid really bright lights in your office that can be distracting or lead to sensory overload. Consider how noisy open plan environments can be distracting or lead to individuals feeling overwhelmed. Complete a desk assessment for any new joiners, helping them make sure their computer screen isn’t too bright and they have everything they need to organise their files and folder.
Presenting them with a welcome kit on their first day to work can be a great idea to help them get familiarised with the organisation.
Hopefully, you have hired an open-minded, flexible workforce who will have no trouble adapting to a more neurodiverse office. Make sure everyone is on the same page.
Some of the structures and routines of your office may not allow the neurodiverse employees to do their best. For instance, be prepared to find a separate space for those employees if the main office environment is too loud or chaotic. But most importantly, be open to new ideas that are non-neurotypical employees come up with, ideas that may challenge your past assumptions.
All of the above suggests that companies must embrace an alternative philosophy of fitting irregular puzzle pieces together. The payoff for companies will be huge if they manage to do. The whole reason for having a more neurodiverse workplace is fostering creativity and innovation by incorporating different perspectives and ways of thinking. Recognise the needs of different employees in your organisation and find ways to help them become a part of your work culture.
]]>Studies show that even having just one team member who is swaying against the tide can reduce the productivity of a high performing group by 30 to 40%.
In addition, allowing problematic behaviour to continue causes stress, reduces creativity and impacts your credibility as a leader.
But how do you know when is the right time to fire an employee? Here are some telltale signs that indicate its time to give them the memo!
If you see any of these happening in the workplace, it might be time to take some tough calls!
If an employee frequently indulges in arguments with peers or management, chances are that he is no longer satisfied with the job or has personal problems, that is affecting his work attitude.
It is up to the manager to take a call and fire an employee when conflicts surround him all the time, even after sufficient efforts are made to solve issues.
If an employee’s performance has noticeably declined and he is lagging behind, it may be a matter of concern.
Make efforts to find out the reasons behind the same and offer proper training and coaching, if required. However, if the situation still persists after a reasonable amount of time is given to cope up, it might be time to let the employee go to protect the bottom line.
When you notice an employee constantly complaining about everything to everyone, you know you have a toxic team member onboard. They not only create a negative atmosphere but also poison the attitudes of the rest of your team.
They will incessantly speak about the bad things happening and focus on them for days on end.
Talk to such an employee and discuss his behaviour and the need to lighten up and become a more positive influence on the office. You know it’s time to tell him to pack his bags and keep going if he still does not get back in line!
While the ill effects of a toxic employee can be observed within the office, it is very difficult to measure the impact he may be having outside the company as well.
Pay attention to what your customers and vendors are saying. Consistent bad feedback against an employee requires immediate attention.
Customers who have a bad experience will tell between 9 to 15 people about the experience, and 86% of the customers will stop doing business with a company altogether due to a bad experience.
You cannot afford to let a bad employee tarnish your brand image and that’s probably why it’s time to let them go.
When an employee shows up at work every day with a careless attitude, something is going terribly wrong. He may be completely disengaged from work and office and probably looking for other places to work at.
Whatever the reason, it brings down the morale the rest of the team too. Get in a direct conversation with such an employee and try to understand their side of the story.
If you cannot reach a suitable solution to the above problem, let the employee know how having him in a job he does not love will not only affect his career but also affect the rest of the team.
The business landscape is constantly changing especially as new technology develops and more efficient processes are discovered.
While it may get difficult for an employee to adapt to changes, a complete unwillingness to make adjustments or a poor attitude about every change that’s introduced can be warning signs that an employee isn’t going to fit in your company culture well anymore.
When matters frequently get passed on to the HR department, it’s time to have a look at the employee behaviour. Issues like sexual harassment, inappropriate jokes, relationships forbidden by the handbook, or something similar keep getting associated with him.
You can let an employee off the hook by giving only so many last chances, which should ultimately lead to having him fired.
Rules are not suggestions. If an employee has had ample time to correct problem issues, but does not, let them know that they should try considering other career opportunities!
After pointing out certain problem areas and providing valuable suggestions to alter them, for their own, if an employee is stuck on going against the rulebook of the company, you know what to do.
Determining the time and need to fire an employee is difficult, but necessary, not only for your company but often for your employees too. Remember, when it’s time to terminate, make it quick and painless – but make it happen!
]]>It is indeed the prerogative of any manager or boss to take leadership and have some control. Making sure that the work is getting done and paying attention to detail is important. They're also a necessary part of managing.
But if you have a manager who gives in to minute scrutiny and excessive control or is more critical of your efforts than encouraging, you know you are working for a micro-manager.
“Micromanagers are obsessed with control. You know you are working with one if he or she gets involved in a level of detail that is way below his or her pay grade,” says Jenny Chatman, a professor of management at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley who researches and consults on organizational culture.
You tend to blame yourself or question your own abilities when you have a super controlling and critical boss. However, it is important to know that most times, you aren’t the cause of it, rather it may be due to increase in work pressure and insecurity in your boss’s mind.
“It’s more about your bosses’ level of internal anxiety and need to control situations than anything about you,” says Jenny Chatman.
Being micromanaged can be frustrating, demoralizing and demotivating.
According to experts, fighting back won't work. “If you rebel against it, you will just get more of it,” says Jean-François Manzoni, a professor of management at INSEAD and co-author of The Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome: How Good Managers Cause Great People to Fail. “If you push back in one way or another — passively or aggressively — your manager may conclude you can’t be trusted and get more involved”. So, if you can’t change the way your boss leads, you can change the way you follow using a few battle-tested tactics!
Here are some ways you can excel despite having a micromanaging boss!
Try and understand your manager and try to see things from their point of view.
For eg, it could be that your manager is a stickler for time and you have a more relaxed approach. Talking out which strategy works best for achieving the desired result will help.
You could appraise them of your team’s efforts and provide regular updates on the expected date of completion of tasks. This could make your boss appreciate your commitment to deadlines.
Knowing what your manager wants to achieve. Find common goals and show keen interest to work on them.
This may help you to build trust and give you more freedom.
Have a one on one conversation with your manager about your expectations. Tell your manager that he can delegate certain tasks to you confidently. Tell your boss in no uncertain terms that you can take over some tasks if only he lets go of them. Insist on having regular supervisory meetings and share updates about your progress.
For instance, you could send that expected email before your boss asks you for it. You could list the tasks already completed and next steps so your boss could see your progress. This could ease his anxiety to some extent.
Anticipate the tasks that your manager expects and get them done before time. This makes it clear to the manager that you know your responsibilities and how to manage them.
Assure her that you can handle the project on your own and that you will seek her guidance whenever you need it.
Flattery can also work. Tell your boss that she need not look into the minute details because her time and efforts are more valuable for the big picture.
To survive a micromanager, you will need to mutually determine a balance between your manager’s need for involvement, and your need for freedom to be productive.
If all of the above fail to work, you could consult your company's HR department or career counsellor to help sort out issues. If even that does not give you satisfactory results, in the long run, do ask yourself, would you still like to work here?
Working in a trying environment can seriously affect your self-esteem and productivity in the long run. Even if you love your job, sometimes it just makes better sense to move on.
]]>A cross functional team has the potential to implement significant improvements throughout the organization, and thus is a powerful tool in a culture of continuous improvement. In such a collaborative environment, employees take ownership of problems and work together to bring about solutions. This increases teamwork, improves communication and brings about a culture of positivity amongst the teams.
According to statistics:
Some of the areas where cross-teams can help are:
Let’s look into some ways to make cross-team collaboration work in an organisation!
Only one person can lead the team as it prevents confusion and people know who to report to and who is accountable. Since good leadership is essential to a cross-functional team’s ability to meet goals, make sure the leaders of your cross team are both visible and accessible to team members. They should offer team members several ways to communicate with them about cross-team projects, from texting and email to video chats and office hours to be dedicated.
It is easy to grab one person from each department and develop a team, but if you really want to maximise the effectiveness of your team, you should create a group that is diverse across a number of areas – not just their work area. Some ideas of factors to look for when developing a cross-functional team could be experience, ability, skills, seniority, tenure, age, gender, location etc.
In order for a team to perform well, the people on that team need to be able to trust one another, which requires people to spend time getting to know each other. To avoid some of the awkwardness of people who don’t know each other well, coming together to work as a team, begin meetings with an ice-breaker question and have everyone share their answers. You can also use HD video-conferencing to ensure remote team members are able to see everyone face to face and communicate with them as if they were in the same room.
A good way to ensure everyone remains focused on cross-team goals and is up to date with regards to what others are doing and how things are progressing between meetings is to enlist the help of a project management app. This will enable everyone on the team to post messages, ask questions and share updates. Don’t overschedule meetings or constantly send emails. Instead stay on top of things in real time by tracking the team, sharing feedback and monitoring results.
Social Media is not just for connecting with friends outside of workplaces. It is, in essence, a great tool for building your brand and promoting your product. The purpose of social media is to ‘connect’. Create a private group on Facebook and encourage your team to be active there. This will help in uniting the company across offices and with remote team members. It will also help drive engagement on company’s public social channels.
Achieving targets can be challenging and a lot of hard work! To keep the team inspired and looking forward to achieving the next milestone, leaders should make a point of recognizing and rewarding team achievements. In fact, team members can appreciate a fellow member who helped achieve the particular milestone. Such peer to peer recognition helps build strong bonds and a feeling of goodwill between team members.
]]>You might often find yourself in a situation where it gets uncomfortable to communicate and pinpoint their mistakes, so as not to let them feel dejected and demoralized.
But you cannot afford the possibility of not letting them in, on where they are lacking. This will only have a snowball effect on the entire team and everyone will begin to feel if others can get away with it, they can too.
Here are a few tips to help you as a manager to handle difficult conversations in a way where employees leave the room feeling motivated!
Here are ways to get through difficult appraisals without leaving your employees feeling dejected and uninspired!
Entering the meeting unarmed is always a bad idea when giving uneasy feedback during performance appraisals. Think carefully on the agenda of the appraisal and the areas you want to highlight.
Get to know your employee beforehand by following a continuous feedback approach, so you have an idea of what their needs are. This will help you convey your thoughts with minimum damage.
Talk to other employees who work closely with the individual in question. Understand if their experience of the employee’s work and attitude is the same as yours – or is something personal getting in the way of your view? It is best not to assume something based on your thoughts alone.
Make sure you avoid unconscious biases from clouding your judgement. Also, make sure you don’t allow one unfavorable aspect of someone’s performance to negate everything else done well.
The last thing you want out of your one on one chat with the employee is to not reach a satisfactory consensus. Avoid beating around the bush and come straight to the point. Make your comments specific to examples where the employee’s behavior was not acceptable or where exactly they went wrong.
That will help them remember exactly which incidents you are referring to and reach a common ground by discussing it out with you. Additionally, this will also give them a clear idea of what they need to work on.
Once you have laid out the problem areas on the table in front of them, give the employees a moment to recover and a chance to open up to you about their viewpoint. He/She might be facing some issues which have led to a poor performance.
They may not be getting support from their colleagues or lack the necessary skills. He/she might also have personal issues which were not previously disclosed. While there should be no excuses for poor performance, dig deep and understand what exactly are the issues and try reaching a solution.
This doesn’t just make the employee more trusting of your appraisal, but also makes him/her more willing to make the necessary changes.
It is best to choose a friendly approach so that you have a healthy discussion rather than make it seem like a serious meeting. Be a friend to your employees, understand them and show empathy. To have a meaningful conversation, you need to really listen to them and be open to suggestions. Listening to their side of the story patiently will help you take a fair and balanced decision. The employee will also be able to trust you well and discuss his issues more openly.
Some employees might not take criticism constructively and have a sudden emotional outburst of anger. He might react badly and get upset especially if he was not expecting for a poor appraisal.
Make sure you keep calm and keep your emotions in check. Let them take a moment to process the news by being empathetic and supportive. Try and lighten their mood by focusing on the brighter side. Maintain a clear perspective by focusing on the solutions for the problems addressed and avoid getting into a negative space.
All the efforts go for a toss if you do not set targets to improve on this.
Be very clear about exactly what you want to change and by when - set a date for a follow-up to review progress. Offer coaching, support and whatever help the employees need to help them improve.
Employees should feel as much a part of the course of action to be followed from now on so that their involvement is a hundred percent.
Do not be a rigid manager in sticking to what you feel is the right way to do things. Instead be flexible and look out for the employees’ happiness and what seems fair for the organisation.
No matter how the entire talk went about, always end the appraisal meeting on a positive note. Highlight the positive aspects towards the end, so that you and the employee can leave the room feeling light and healthy.
Make sure you record whatever has been discussed or agreed. This helps keep the entire process transparent and accessible if either you or the individual want to check back at any time.
Keeping proper records is important so that if at any point of time the situation escalates and you find yourself in a disciplinary situation, you have evidence of the fact that the issues have been raised previously and individuals have been treated fairly.
Appraisal meetings are never going to be easy, but with the aid of the above points, you can surely find your way around difficult conversations and emerge successful.
]]>Organisations worldwide are innovating every day when it comes to welcoming new employees and making their first day at work a memorable one. Think of it as a sales exercise where the new employee is your client and he is here to make a decision about whether to invest in your organisation or not. How will you sell your company?
Research suggests that a new joinee decides to stay on with an organization in the first 45 days after joining and hence it becomes very important to have a great onboarding process in place.
One of the best ways to do that is to have a fully equipped welcome kit ready which contains different goodies and important documents for the new employee.
There is no denying the fact that welcome kits surely up the game and perk up every new entrant in a team. However, several studies suggest that it also helps make a difference in an employees’ productivity levels and enhances loyalty.
How true is that? Let’s find out!
Here’s how having great welcome kits can drive employees to give their best to the company!
The employees in an organization are all different when it comes to temperament, behavior and preferences. While some of them may be open communicators and can forge relationships easily that are required to function effectively in an office, some others might be introverts and need a nudge from you to open up.
Workplace loneliness is a real problem where people find it difficult to have a good time with their colleagues while working.
By on-boarding the new entrant with a thoughtful welcome kit, you set a positive tone and let them feel welcome right from the first day at work! They find it easier to relate to the company and its inclusive culture, thereby improving their productivity levels.
Ask any employee about their first day at work and the generic answer you will get from most of them is that they felt bored after a while! Having employees on your team who get bored and dragged down is certainly not what you are looking for.
Also, boredom is the cousin of feeling unproductive or under-utilized! Engage them with facts and details about your organisation or giving them a tour of the office. Giving a welcome kit will automatically up their energy levels and let them know they are in the right place to work productively!
Your welcome kit should contain an employee handbook which lays out the rules of the office. Everything from the rules of their specific department to team member performance, to the shared rules among everyone.
Give the new joinees a peek into what the current employees achieve on a day to day basis, your company culture, which clearly sets the bar about what is expected from them.
Also, keep the gates open for any sort of queries they have or any feedback they want to offer.
Welcome packages provide a strong foundation for new employees in a company by embracing their presence as soon as they step into the office.
One of the basic needs of every human is the need to be valued. Gifting employees welcome packages have the power to not only make employees feel included but valued.
The employee feels his bonds are strengthened as the company has set a standard for how employees are treated. You not only have a team member who feels eased into your company culture but also earn his loyalty as a contributing employee.
A study measured the impact of happiness on employee productivity and found a 12% spike in productivity among happy workers!
Creating a fun atmosphere and setting aside time for fun activities at work can give employees the boost they need to excel at their jobs. Many companies welcome their new joinees by gifting them company branded t-shirts or mugs with their logo engraved on it.
Having such goodies showcases the fun side of your company culture and who doesn’t like fun? If your employees are having fun at work, you know you have a bunch of productive people onboard!
As more young talent is being added to our workforce, there is a shift in the way jobs are perceived. There is a change in attitudes, skills and work styles because there is a considerable difference in the way millennials go to work.
Set working hours and a fixed way of working may not fare well with them as they are constantly on a lookout for innovation.
In a recent ‘Millennial Survey’ conducted by Deloitte, it was found that 78% of millennials feel that innovation is essential for business growth!
When you work towards improving employee experience with innovative methods like a welcome kit, you immediately grab their attention. This leaves them feeling more connected to your company.
While every organization differs from the other, here are six factors which broadly sum up the features your welcome kit should have:
Create value in the minds of the employee by gifting them something they could actually use. Gifting a t-shirt engraved with the company logo is a great option. Or some branded stationery items like a handbook which they can use to take notes is great too.
Keeping the utility factor in check, do not miss out on picking a unique item which they will fondly remember. If the employee is an avid reader, go a step further and gift them a kindle!
While it is great to gift a big bag of chocolates, the memory soon fades away as it is a perishable item. Make sure whatever you pick is durable enough and it can be personalised.
A pen drive is a great gift in today’s time when your employee might have to travel extensively for client meetings. It is also one of the best ways of branding your logo in front of your prospects.
You might be in an expansion mode and have a lot of employees joining your office. Prepare a welcome kit depending upon your budget constraints.
Imagine the free marketing you receive when the new joinee uploads an image of the wow welcome kit he received on his first day at the office on his Instagram account! Now you know what we are talking about!
We at ‘Engrave – Awards & More’ understand the efforts to hire a team member and retaining them to become a long-standing partner in your company’s growth. We customise and help you build that awesome Welcome Kit for your new employees. Do take a look at our Joining Kit collection.
]]>It is no wonder that HR professionals want to believe that finding the right talent is a super tricky job. If you too have been in this ‘talent hunt’ situation, we know that life is hard. But it needn’t be. The good news is that things can be simplified to help you not only reach the right candidate but also do so efficiently.
It has been observed that the more you get to know about the top performers, the less it becomes about talent. The examples are aplenty. IQ-tests can be practised. Memory can be trained. Skill acquisition can be hacked. The more you learn about it, the more you find out about the importance of everything besides talent.
Let’s take a closer look at why ‘not being able to find the right talent’ can never be an excuse!
Here’s why chasing talent can often be a waste of time!
Today’s digital marketing expert is someone who was born in the 70s or 80s when the concept wasn’t remotely in existence. Saying that they were ‘born with it’ wouldn’t then probably fit in. It applies to numerous professionals today who are at the top of their field today. They may have started practising in the late 90s and early 2000, grasped the continually changing scenario, worked hard to stay on top of strategies and technology.
So, what really separates world-class performers from everybody else?
On the surface, we believe these people to have superior talent than ordinary individuals which gives them their element of greatness. The truth is that these people have used ‘deliberate practice’ consciously or unconsciously to become exceptional over time.
If you are looking at a high volume of resumes, first get the right input of data where you can sort candidates by their skills and experience. Even freshers tend to have some experience (like an internship) to show off. Pick out the candidates who would have spent the most time acquiring these skills. That’s where you get started.
Research has shown that you need to give 10000 hours or 10 years of practice to something to become exceptionally good at it.
The type of practice you need to develop this ability is that you need to stay focused on the task at hand as long as possible, take a quick break and get back to it. You can set a goal and reward yourself each day for attaining it. The idea is to make practice sound like routine.
What’s impressive is that you’ll start to notice the difference right away. It will ensure that you make constant and continuous growth irrespective of where you are starting from.
It is more important to find employees who are disciplined and passionate in their approach to work, and willing to undertake the path to becoming talented!
Talent can be acquired. It is important to ignore the fear of failure, or not being able to meet expectations. The idea is to try, fail and learn along the way. The idea is to persevere until the work becomes second nature.
Employees need to be courageous enough to venture into unknown territory, and not be bogged down by hurdles. One way to ensure that employees stay on the path to excellence is by rewarding their achievement, no matter how small!
10000 hours of practice would mean that if you practiced a new skill for 3 hours a day, you'd take about nine years to become exceptionally talented at it. If you practiced the same skill for 8 hours a day, you'd need just over three years to become an expert.
Three years does sound better than 9, but it also means that you live and breathe your skill without giving up.
We know that this isn’t as easy as it sounds. There will be times when the challenges will seem insurmountable. There will be circumstances which will make giving up look like the best thing to do. But if you persevere, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is yours to claim.
Implementation. Execution. Practice. Consistency.
If you want to grow and thrive, you need to get down to experiment with your learning and chart your own path to success. There are tons of learning out there. But real learning comes from actual on-ground execution of your skill. If you are ready to practice 8 hours a day for the next four years, there will be nothing stopping you from becoming exceptional.
Employees who are willing to do what it takes to achieve excellence are far more superior than the ones with ‘talent’!
Being talented isn’t a gift (unless, probably, if you are a savant). It’s time to get over the excuse of ‘not being able to find the right talent’ and focus on developing the required talent in your organisation!
]]>8 hours later, you have checked your phone notifications 157 times, read all new emails and procrastinated on replies, updated your Facebook status, uploaded a picture of the amazing sandwich you had for lunch on Instagram, had 3 tea breaks where you guiltily gobbled on chocolate cookies, and googled new ways to lose weight. The one thing you’ve not done is WORK...
Productivity isn’t an easy nut to crack. It requires you to improve your focus and get things done quickly and efficiently even when there are many distractions around you. More than anything else, it needs you to beat your own lethargy!
While we can give you a list of tools and practices to improve productivity, there are two main things you need to succeed at this task.
Be determined that you want to improve. Set a tangible goal that you can achieve by increasing your productivity in the next one month. This will allow you to determine the success and failure of your actions.
Next, be consistent with following the steps you’ve set. Two weeks from when you start, you’ll wonder if it is necessary to push so hard and consider going back to what you were doing earlier. It is essential to keep up with these ‘hacks’ day after day until they become second nature.
The moment you experience a tipping point where these tasks become a part of your routine is when you succeed at being productive, and, more importantly, are satisfied with your accomplishments.
Implement these simple hacks to ensure that your employees are being productive.
One reality that we face as working professionals is that we get increasingly tired as the day trudges on. We are at the peak of our creativity, idea potential and even energy during the first few hours at work. This is the time to prioritize and get the most creative and critical work done.
Do everything you need to get your morning in order. Get up 15 – 20 mins early. Squeeze in time to complete your morning chores, get a filling breakfast, your morning dose of tea or coffee that is perfectly brewed, and at least half hour to either exercise or meditate. Keep enough buffer to ensure you reach office ten mins before time. Utilise your travel time to order tasks as per priority mentally.
Use the first two hours of the day to accomplish the one / two things that will give you the maximum sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. We bet your employer will also be delighted with this approach.
Remember the irritating times when you’ve sent emails requesting a reply or action but don’t see a reciprocation until much later. There is a strategy to working your way through your inbox.
The first thing you need to do is set a time that you’ll use the first ten minutes of the day (precisely timed) to clear your inbox. You will respond either with a proper answer or a timeline as to when you’ll get back. Some emails need a simple yes/no response.
For others that need long answers, schedule time on your calendar to respond to them. The best time to do this is on a Friday afternoon where you can spend one hour to delete unwanted email. Clearing your inbox gives a sense of relief and prevents the urgency to going back to it at intervals.
There are a lot of times when you’ll notice that multitaskers are lauded for being highly productive. However, a recent study found that multitasking may actually harm your brain.
The study found that participants addicted to using multiple devices simultaneously have lower grey matter density in a brain area called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Age old wisdom says that it is okay to do one job at a time but do it well.
To prevent distraction, decide that you need to tick off the task on your plate before you move to the next one. You can keep your phone in the bag so that you aren’t distracted by notifications or the urge to check Facebook. That will push you to see the job to completion before you start the next.
Power Tip: Never put off your “2-minute-tasks”. If any task takes just about two minutes, get it done and over with - both for personal and professional tasks. If it takes 2 minutes to water the plant or pack your lunch, don’t put it off for later. It’ll save you a cluttered mind.
Ever since Arthur Fry invented the post-it note in 1974, many tasks can be credited to this unassuming discovery. They are now used to create to-do lists which are invaluable to productivity. Even if there is no tangible reward for completing a task, you are bound to feel a sense of accomplishment if you can peel the note off marking the task’s completion.
To-do lists work well when they are made at the end of the day for the next day. The real success from to-do lists comes when you discuss it with your manager or colleague and get a quick understanding of what’s to be done. This activity forces you to explain the nitty-gritty of the tasks at hand. Then, the next day all you need is to execute it on time. Here’s how!
Contrary to what people believe, short breaks can actually enhance your productivity. Experts believe that the most productive workers have a routine of 52 minutes of work followed by a 17-minute break.
Another technique is to keep moving while at work. It is common knowledge that you shouldn’t sit continuously for too long. To avoid this, consider a standing or cycling desk. Take the stairs and a plan a 15-min walk during your lunch break. You can also practice exercises at your desk to loosen up.
It is important to recognize the improvements in an employee’s productivity! Let them feel special with badges or awards.
Eliminating distractions is one of the most significant factors in pushing up productivity. Plan meetings, phone calls and attend workshops only if it is feasible for you to do so without hampering priority tasks. Last but not the least, take care of yourself. Get adequate sleep and drink lots of water. A healthy body is a home to a smart and productive mind!
]]>But have you stopped to ask – Why? Go back two generations, and you’ll find many people who have put in over 30 years of service with a single organisation and retired with pride. They feel that their loyalty over the years gives them something to show against all those years of hard work.
While career aspirations have changed with generations, you’ll also notice that there is more driving an average millennial when it comes to shifting jobs.
Is an increased pay the only thing that drives a job change or are people more likely to stick to a job if it has some core conducive factors in place? Let’s delve deeper into the layers of what employees really want!
You’ll see a stark change in career aspirations depending on the age and stage of life. People in their 20s are more open to taking risks and moving in and out of jobs as it is all about gaining experience for them.
Move to the 30s, when many are typically in the stage of starting a family, people put job security as a high priority in their career aspiration list. Because people in this stage are risk averse, they would prefer to stick to one job and build a career!
If your resume shows that you’ve taken seven job jumps in the last ten years, people will be less inclined to hire you knowing that you may jump ship soon. Sticking to a job conveys work ethics like loyalty, consistency and willingness to stay on the job through multiple phases.
What makes people come back day after day to work? It is well-known that most jobs make people work under pressure to achieve their targets. What makes people stay on the job is the work environment and the people. If they feel they are valued, they will want to work longer and harder without anyone telling them to do so.
If they share a great relationship with their colleagues and managers, they are likely to stay on the job longer because everyone knows that it takes a while to build a good rapport and no one wants to easily lose what they have.
According to a study, 4 in 5 employees want benefits and perks more than a pay raise. They’ll be willing to stay longer to avail these benefits. The temptation from a competitor offering a higher salary will not make them shift base.
All these factors go on to show that people don’t get into a job thinking it to be a temporary factor. The intention is to generally structure career and personal growth around the job. Since this doesn’t come easily for everyone, celebrating tenure with a service award can be an enriching experience for both the company and employee.
Here’s why service awards should be a part of your company’s employee recognition program!
Service awards will never be passé… Here’s why!
According to research, the Return On Investment (ROI) on service anniversary programs is considerably favourable. In fact, employees who have their service anniversary celebrated tend to stay on the job up to two years longer compared to those who don’t.
According to Adam Robinson, CEO at Hireology, “When management takes the time to celebrate important individual milestones, it shows that the company cares about its team, and reinforces that we celebrate individuals for their important contributions to the business.”
Hireology hosts a ‘top secret’ lab coat ceremony for employees who cross the 90-day threshold that includes the Hireologist pledge, champagne and introduction into the Hall of Hireologists!
A company with a people-first focus does not leave any opportunity to showcase its culture. Such companies think that celebrating milestones and service tenures is a great way to strengthen both the company culture and employer brand.
Company culture has far-reaching effects on everything from growth to employee happiness to client acquisition.
Celebrating tenure with exciting and valuable benefits can help employees know that the company rewards loyalty and meritocracy.
Imagine having someone celebrate their 15th work anniversary the day you join. You get to see their growth path in the company from the time they entered to the time they moved all the way up the ladder. You see them being rewarded handsomely for their loyalty and dedication.
For any newbie or intern, this celebration acts as an inspiration and motivation. It also sets the bar for peers and colleagues to push harder in clocking personal milestones with the same company instead of leaving midway for another opportunity.
While the company and team milestones are often lauded, service awards for tenures is a great way to celebrate an individual and their contribution to the company right from where they started. It isn’t about a great result in a single quarter or achieving targets on the annual report. It is a celebration of the person’s entire history of contributions.
Note: If you are looking to celebrate your employees' years of service, you should consider our lovingly-crafted long service awards collection.
]]>One perspective is that the employer and especially the HR manager have a more difficult job than the candidate. While they evaluate them on one end, they also have to push all the right buttons so that the candidate gets attracted to the concept of joining them.
These are the reasons that go beyond the salary when someone is considering joining your company.
After the rounds of interviews, selection, offer and acceptance come the second round of evaluation. When the employee joins, managers and co-workers spend the first month evaluating if they prove to be as impressive as they projected during the interview.
This period is also a time of reverse evaluation when the employee learns about the internal workings of the company. Things like how the company walks the talk on its core values, how the people support new employees and the actual execution of work in a conducive environment will all be put to the test in the first one month.
Many people tend to wonder why there is a need to impress someone who has already taken the bait and joined the company. The reality is that talented and skilled employees value the work experience as much as their pay. If they find that they are not able to fit with the company culture, they may decide to jump ship soon.
According to a study, one-third of new hires quit their job after about six months. This will set you and the team back by six months and get you back to square one – something that doesn’t look good on anyone’s work profile.
Most employees spend the first few days evaluating their new employer. The question is, as an HR manager, how are you and your company faring in this test? Are you able to impress your new employee? Here’s what you can do to start on the right foot!
Let’s take a look at a few ways to make your new employees go ‘WOW!’
Managing expectations is one of the most significant challenges on the first day of work. The new employee will come with a blank slate. You will need to fill it in with relevant details of how things work at your company. The critical part of the first day is that you stay organized and be in control.
Set out the desk, arrange for help with paperwork, get a laptop and email id in place and other essential hygiene activities that come in the ‘need to be done’ category.
Another way to impress them considerably is by handing out awesome joining kits!
Pick out the star employee in the team and assign them as a ‘buddy’ who can help the new employee during the first few days.
A star employee has a proven track record, is well versed with insider details and also acts as a brand ambassador on your behalf. They can answer a new employee’s most pressing questions easily without having the employee come running to the HR for big and small queries. They’ll go a long way in creating a positive image of the employer brand.
Also, they’ll work as an inspiration to new employees on how their growth path will be within the company.
You can’t expect a new employee to meet and exceed targets within the first month. They are bound to have a learning curve. It is best to be conservative and assume that the new employee will need some time to pick up the nuances of work in the first month before you can get them to the target achievement mode.
During this period, a supervisor will regularly block chunks of their time to ensure the employee has all the resources required to get up to speed. Junior level employees will need more direct supervision. Senior level employees will need time with the core management team to ensure their vision is aligned with that of the company.
It is a known fact that success followed by appreciation and recognition can be one of the biggest motivation for an employee.
When setting tasks and targets for new employees think of how you would do it for a first grader. If they are able to solve a simple math problem quickly and are appreciated for it, they will be more willing to try on a difficult problem the next time. You can start by giving out low hanging fruits that are achievable in the near future.
The first taste of success will instill confidence that the employee can take on more difficult and challenging tasks. The challenge that the immediate manager will have is to help them begin with a set of tasks that have a sweet spot between easy and difficult.
And don’t forget to reward them for their success… Recognizing achievements motivates employees to aim for higher goals!
Even when the employee gets over the learning curve, many industries require that the employee upgrades themselves with the latest skill, knowledge and tools. It is times like this when paying attention to the employee’s career growth will pay dividends.
Encourage a continuous learning practice among employees. This will ensure that their talent is put to good use and you don’t have to go searching outside for new skills. It will also improve their overall engagement with the company. By learning new skills, the employee can take on new tasks within the company. Their enthusiasm and initiative can be rewarded from time to time which will make them feel wanted and valuable.
Feedback needs to be a two-way street! Encouraging new employees to provide feedback is a great way to know their ideas and opinions of the workplace culture and if it is meeting their expectations.
This practice helps newbies know that they matter to the organization and that their personal goals are as important as the ones of the organization.
Each employee, when treated well, can prove to be an asset to the company. With the right benefits and pay, they will not have any reason to leave you and head the competitor’s way. All you need to do is play the first impression game consistently.
Go beyond their expectations to create ‘wow’ experiences for them year after year. That is what will keep them going with you.
]]>What drives an employee to work five or six days a week, every week, week after week? The security of receiving a salary at the end of the month is, of course, a given. But other than that, what prompts them to choose a job and stick with it?
More often than not, if your employees ask, ‘What is the point of my job?’ and don’t get a convincing reply from the universe (i.e. your company), they may want to explore greener pastures.
Of course, the answer to this question ain’t that simple! The solution is built day after day with the way you execute your company culture and build your employer brand.
Here’s how you can answer your employees, not with words, but with actions!
Here are a few ways you can make your employees feel wanted and important in the grand scheme of things!
It is a universal truth that happy employees are more likely to work hard to get satisfied customers. Companies that put their employees first usually follow similar practices.
Excellent benefits, good pay, a culture of meritocracy and prioritizing work-life balance is something each of these companies describes as a part of their core values. To them, their people are their world and a happy world is proven to increase profits, attract talent and become of aspirational value.
A great work culture is essential for employees to feel worthy and reinforce their faith in the organization.
According to a survey by Glassdoor, 4 out of 5 employees will prefer better benefits and perks against a pay raise. Rest assured, if your employee is switching to a competitor, a better pay cannot be the only reason. From extended maternity and paternity leaves to paid vacations to remote work options, employees feel thankful to the organization which encourages them to work hard and play harder.
Being a cool employer doesn’t mean that you install a Foosball table in the office. It means tangible benefits that the employee can enjoy personally and professionally. Employees must be convinced that their efforts are being recognized.
Each employee comes with a core strength. If it is leadership, extend autonomy to the employee without criticizing failure. If it is innovation, allow them to express their ideas and equip them with the tools to make it a reality. If it is building strategy, allow them to run the show for a quarter and guide the team to achieving targets.
In the end, whether they succeed or fail, you will have an experienced and knowledgeable employee on your side who is willing to take more calculated risks to help the organization meet its goals. Additionally, they will be far more confident of their skills as well as their position in the organization.
Coming to goals, it is vital to set and manage expectations. If the target is too high and hard to achieve, the employee will feel disappointed with himself. If it is too easy, the employee won’t find it challenging.
There is a formula for setting goals right called SMART which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. Have an open discussion with the employee what they think about the purpose and motivate them to believe that they can not only meet but exceed expectations with the team’s and your support.
Open, and regular communication also helps you keep in touch with the employee’s own aspirations. This is especially necessary to ensure that the employee’s career graph is progressing along with the company’s growth.
If you hire a bad manager, you are not only setting up the unit for failure but also creating setbacks for the company. The only way to ensure that managers work well is by taking a top-down approach and have the top management decide the rules of engagement.
They should treat the team members with respect, maintain a productive environment in the office and project an impeccable employer brand through their words and actions.
A good manager also encourages those under him to grow and find purpose in their work.
While you may plan to execute a lot of activities to keep your employees happy, it is important to measure and analyse which of these worked to match up to their expectations.
Collecting qualitative feedback across the board will help determine which category of employees are the most or least happy and then custom design programs to help them do better.
It is generally acknowledged that an employee, these days, does not stay on the same job for over four years.
Some people have continued to stick with your company through thick and thin. They have, time and again, proven themselves to be an asset to the organization and have been willing to stay back even when their colleagues jumped ship.
By rewarding loyalty and service tenure, you can let all your employees know that it will be beneficial for their career and overall well-being to remain a part of your company instead of worrying and switching jobs often.
Reviewing and rewarding their achievements periodically is also an effective way of letting them know that their efforts matter to the organization!
In general, we all aspire to give back to the society and help those not as privileged as us. But we blame the daily grind in coming in our way.
As an employer, you can connect with a few NGOs and facilitate the provision of voluntary services by your employees, taking care of the cost.
Working for a cause higher than themselves is bound to keep employees motivated and happy.
If you treat all employees as equal and break down bureaucracy barriers within the organisation, your employees will experience a sense of belonging and will automatically become brand ambassadors for you.
]]>The major role of setting up a winning relationship is of the superior. Superiors can influence the direction that the team can take, help them take charge of their careers and have fun doing it. They can even become valuable mentors for their teammates. This, in turn, has a tremendous effect on the performance of the organisation too. Don’t believe us? Have a look at these statistics.
Several such statements go on to prove that if you get a ‘bad’ manager, you are setting yourself up for failure. So where do you start? Here are a few tips that can help.
Let’s look at some simple ways to ensure a lasting and productive relationship with the team!
Company behaviour is primarily governed by its culture.
Setting up core values starts with the top management. While it isn’t easy to approach management with changes, it’s great to set the tone right by citing benefits. For example, a happier employee ratio can mean that the company may be eligible to apply for the ‘Best Places To Work’ certification. It will improve the ‘employer brand’ and attract better talent in the process.
Management can then be led by example. Once you start asking questions like ‘How can we improve work-life balance for our employees?’ or ‘How can we encourage ownership and autonomy in our employees?’ you’ll be able to define a set of practices that can run through the length and breadth of the company right to the latest intern.
In addition to this, you can also define employee happiness as among your core values. After all, happy employees are more vested in your company’s success and often go above and beyond to increase customer, client and partner happiness quotient.
Being respectful towards colleagues and the team is considered to be a given quality that anyone in the organisation needs to have. Yet, you’ll hear many employees complain that their boss does not treat them well. This disconnect can happen especially when expectations aren’t set right.
As a superior, a lot of this part will be in your hands. You can have an open discussion about the job responsibilities, what is the expected outcome to be targeted at the end of the month and the ways to go about achieving it.
You can also offer to help out and lead the way where necessary. Beyond this, you can let your team know that they are free to experiment and see how they can get the desired outcome.
Be sure to praise them in front of colleagues when they meet or exceed expectations. Call out to them and ensure that they receive credit for their work. Do the exact opposite when you want to share feedback. Do it in private. Let them know that you appreciate their work but think that a few things can be improved with another iteration.
One great way to convey your support would be to recommend a team member’s names for a Star Performer Award.
It is important to recognise that everyone has a life outside work.
There are pressing responsibilities like children and elderly who demand attention. A lot of it may be unexpected too. Sometimes employees request a day off without prior notice which can throw things off gear. It is important to empathise with their situation and not penalise for circumstances which are out of anyone’s control.
New mothers often have to juggle a lot just to stay afloat and come to work. It isn’t an easy situation for anyone. At such times, getting all team members to pitch in will build a team spirit.
While it is an employee’s duty to complete their responsibilities during work hours, don’t expect them to stick around the office until you leave. It is also unreasonable to expect them to work from home after office hours or work during the weekend. Of course, one-off exceptions are bound to happen, but it is best not to make it a habit.
Some companies mandate that employees take time off for a few days every year so that they don’t experience burnout. Some allow workations that allow a right mix of work and vacation when travelling for business. Some even offer paid holidays as a bonus for a job done well.
As a boss, your success is defined by your team’s success. Your primary job is to help them achieve their goals by extending your support when they need it, lead by example and provide mentoring in skills that can move their career forward. Let them know through your actions that you are on their team and not a step apart. Encourage them to come to you directly with their problems and show genuine interest in resolving them.
None of the management practices can be learnt or implemented in a day. It needs to be done consistently over a period of time to be successful.
The one change that you can start making right away is to tweak your hiring process at multiple levels so that only people who show the right cultural fit are recruited in the first place. This fit evaluation needs to be much tighter for people joining in managerial positions. Getting the right people is 90% of the job done.
For the remaining 10%, put out practices that encourage opportunities in delighting employees as much as your customers.
]]>Coming from the founder of one of the most innovative companies in the world, the quote seems legitimate enough for us to believe, and follow it. Innovation is like fruit that is just out of grasps, and you have to risk a jump and a fall to grab it.
Though most companies will refuse to agree, many of them, inadvertently, do not support innovation. They don’t encourage their employees to innovate either. Innovation comes at a cost and with the risk of failure. People have a natural fear towards being seen as a failure, and this propels them to stick to the routine that works. And this one factor goes on to differentiate the great from the ordinary.
If you think that you or your employees have stopped innovating, you need to take a look at the cause of the problem and rectify it to get back on track. Here’s where you can start.
Pay heed to these factors that may be contributing to the lack of innovation in your organisation!
This is by far the topmost reason why both managers and employees choose not to innovate. We are used to being condemned for failure in education or in conforming to social norms. This aversion to risk is ingrained in our minds.
If you look back at the most recent innovations, most risked the fear of failing because they seemed implausible at the time the idea was conceived. It is often a lonely path to walk. The only workaround is if a company’s management uses a top-down approach to demonstrate that failures will not sound the death knell and instead will be viewed as opportunities to rectify mistakes and move forward.
Employees are given targets and expected to put in six-day work weeks in order to achieve them. The daily load of work is in itself so huge that employees don’t have time to think of innovations.
The work culture and environment become a stifling factor because these targets are directly linked to pay raises and promotions.
The solution is to put in innovation as one of the elements that are directly related to performance. It’ll ensure that the thought of innovating is continuously on the radar.
At the end of the day, rewards, recognition and non-monetary benefits are as significant as the salary an employee makes. If an employee is rewarded, it makes them feel valuable and more engaged with the company. This is noticed by their peers and inspires them too.
Recognitions can come as simple shout outs in emails or weekly meetings. You can have an informal culture where you give out fun but meaningful rewards and a formal one that can be given out annually.
Companies who put innovation on the front often have it as a part of their core values. They expect employees to innovate as a part of the job. The only way this can be implemented is when there is a top-down approach to demonstrate and support innovation.
Often, poor leadership becomes the reason employees don’t feel motivated to innovate. Sometimes, employees also feel threatened by their leadership. If a manager chooses to present a junior’s idea as their own, employees will lose trust and stop innovating.
To counter this, build your core values around innovation and make sure it reflects to clients, employees, customers and partners in everything you do.
Many employees want to innovate but don’t know where to begin. At such times, the ideas for innovation can come from different sources, and it is up to the company to lead the way. For example, allowing employees to talk to customers and asking for feedback is one of the most common was to understand their direct and latent needs. It also helps the company know how it is faring on the fundamental level.
Another way to propel innovation is to get a motivational speaker who can recharge employees and push them to move out of their comfort zone and try new things. Such speakers have specialised skills that can inspire innovation and teamwork. It is essential to choose the right motivational speaker, though, who doesn’t just dole out advice from 30,000 feet but has some degree of relevant experience. This will allow employees to create a better connection with them.
One more way to foster innovation within the company can be during company retreats. You can take employees out of their everyday setup and let them share a fresh perspective in a relaxed and inspiring environment. Involve them in a brainstorming and team building activity where they feel their views are valued and accepted. Highlight contributions from everyone and acknowledge them during meetings and conversations. During this at intervals will build a system of innovation within the company.
It can be something as simple as creating an internal company page to post ideas, a specific monthly meeting with the manager asking “How can we improve?” or rewarding even small but significant ideas. All these may not cost a massive budget to the company, but the returns can help the company change directions at critical junctures, retain engaged employees and find new business opportunities.
]]>Human Resource personnel are not only in charge of recruitment and retention but also play a considerable role in ensuring that an employee remains engaged and happy. Their job is also directly impacted by the rating the company receives on various happiness indices which measure employee satisfaction.
An additional layer of complexity comes with the changing demands with time. While a secure, ‘9-5’ job was the norm earlier, employees today emphasise on work culture and benefits more than the job. It is what keeps them from switching jobs as soon as a competitor offers higher pay.
The HR department also shoulders the responsibility to communicate a company’s core values, convert them into actionable policies and measure how the company did year on year in maintaining it. In this act of trying to keep everyone happy, some things do fall out of the cracks. Here are five scary stories from HR. Trust us; you wouldn’t want to be the ‘human’ in these human resource nightmare stories.
Here are 5 things that an HR manager dreads most:
These are employees who are the kings and queens in the grand drama that is their lives and will extend this feeling to all situations, even at their workplace. You’ll see them making a mountain of a molehill for every issue in the office.
Shabana was one such employee. She walked into the HR manager’s office one day to discuss an ‘urgent’ problem. The coffee vending machine was dispensing sour coffee, and it was severely affecting her productivity. The next day, the office air conditioner was set too low, and her fingers were freezing so she couldn’t work. Every day, there was a new reason that would dramatically affect only her and no one else.
What the HR manager did: After a couple of weeks of patiently listening, the HR manager raised the issue with Shabana’s boss. Together they invited her to an ‘intervention’ of sorts, to discuss how things can be improved for her to start contributing to her job adequately.
Needless to say, it was a wake-up call that covertly spelt it out that she had to concentrate on doing the job rather than nit-picking about the slightest inconveniences.
Most HR managers have their hands full, solving daily problems, even though others think they are ‘just’ doing their job. An unhappy employee tries to find an outlet to vent out their anger. While colleagues sometimes bear the brunt, threats are often directed towards HR managers.
One such threat came from Akansha, who had just found out about her annual increment. The numbers matched her performance, but it left her fuming. She had heard some of her colleagues mentioning better numbers, and this situation was like a loss of face. The first threat was that she would be ‘fighting a battle’ for her rights. The next was about resigning.
The last hit that came below the belt was to defame the company by giving it a bad online review. It as a no-holds-barred match and she was leaving no stone unturned in the fight.
The management found her behaviour to have disgraced the company culture and decided that it will be best to let them part ways.
A lot of employees think that the HR department is the sole cause of their woes in office. They don’t give a good raise, but plan retreats in luxury destinations, have a sufficient budget to fit in extra office pizzas, give employees their workstations or give out freebies.
Mr Krishnan was a senior employee and would retire in a couple of years. He saw ‘young bloods’ take the office by storm and getting better benefits and pay. It made him bitter, and he often vented his feelings at the HR manager. His words would often be laden with sarcasm and jibes. The other times, he levelled direct accusations that the department was being biased against him because of his age. He wrote a letter to his manager and the CEO about the alleged discrimination.
The management decided to respect his experience and service of many years. They understood that it was natural for the senior generation to feel left out, owing to the enthusiasm and technological smartness of the new ‘millennial’ generation. They decided to engage those in his age group to give their opinions on specific policies.
They also decided to reward him for showcasing his contributions to the company.
It not only improved the relationship but the positivity in the act made everyone feel better.
Some employees take the ‘open communication’ part too seriously. They discuss everything from family problems to traffic to increasing cost of education for their children with the office HR.
It helps them paint a background of being a victim if they are pulled up for not doing their job.
One such story comes from Swati; She would be perpetually late for work and always laid blame on everyone from her neighbor to the city traffic. There were times when she called the HR manager at 11 pm to discuss the late mark policy of the company.
After a brief discussion, the HR manager sent out an email to the entire office stating policies related to late entries. People were requested not to come later more than three times a month, or it would attract penalty.
The HR manager cannot directly fire an employee. He/she can, at most, refer it to the manager and the management decides if stern action is required in rare and exceptional cases.
The hard truth is that no one wants to be the axe-bearer. The fact also remains that the messenger does get shot.
Whether it is reacting to a star employee leaving to join a competitor or the management ordering layoffs due to a bad business season, it is the HR personnel who have to maintain smiling faces, showcase empathy and uphold company values through difficult times.
Ranbir’s case was a hard one. He had performed well and achieved his targets. But the management decided to sell off his unit as it wasn’t as profitable as the others. He was confused and angry. At a time when a recession was setting in, he was asked to leave in spite of good performance. The HR manager had a difficult time explaining how valuable Ranbir had been to the company. The only saving grace was that the company offered a decent severance package that promised to sustain him for the next three months until he found another job.
An HR job can be exciting when it makes employees happy and engaged. But it can seem like an under-appreciated and thankless job too. The job will have a good amount of good and not-so-good days. The one clear solution is to have strategies, policies and rulebooks in place that can be leveraged to tackle a difficult situation.
As a general policy, taking leave at the beginning of the new year won’t exactly be a workplace-friendly thing to do. But it was different for Venkat. He worked with a multinational IT giant that had a workforce spread across the globe. They realised that their leave policy couldn’t follow a ‘one size fits all’ philosophy.
So they give each employee a flex-leave option through which they can work on festivals that they don’t celebrate and instead take extra leave during a celebration of their choice – provided they give advance notice. The policy ensures that employees enjoy their time off, and productivity doesn’t take a beating either.
Employee-friendly leave policies are a significant factor in creating a company culture that propagates work-life balance. It helps the employees feel more responsible during the time they are at work to ensure things get done.
In fact, a recent study showed that more than half (57%) of the employees sharing reviews said that benefits and perks are among the top considerations before they accept a job. These are the five benefits they would prefer over an increase in pay:
Two of the top 5 benefits are directly related to your leave policy, and with the right tweaks, you can create a win-win for yourself and your employees. Moreover, as the war for talent intensifies, these benefits will play a key role in helping you retain your talented employees.
But what if an employee requests time off in the middle of an important project because of an unexpected personal emergency? Not granting leave at such a stage will paint an unfavourable picture of the company. At the same time, the client cannot be kept waiting. Though the situation seems like a catch 22, it can be both avoided and resolved if you make the right choices. Here are some practical ways to balance leaves for employees without hampering company productivity.
Let’s look at 10 ways to ensure that productivity doesn’t suffer owing to an employee or two being away!
Instead of offering different types of leaves like medical, casual and seasonal leaves, some companies club everything into a leave chunk that can be used by the employee as and when they like. This gives more time for employees to plan their leaves during the year and use their days off productively. For example, many people would want to coordinate their leaves with their child’s school vacation days so that they get to spend time with them. Others would like to take a chunk of their leaves during certain festival days which are important for them. Think about it - you will have a happy and satisfied employee, and experience a definite boost to overall productivity!
Leave pooling is an interesting concept that has caught on in the last few years. This facility allows employees to donate their excess leave in a shared pool that everyone can dip into, in case they’ve exhausted they own leaves. This is aimed at medical or personal emergency situations which arrive unexpectedly when one doesn’t have any leave left. The policy also addresses the problem of some employees failing to avail their paid time off.
To encourage this practice, you can always reward employees who donate their leaves to benefit others.
Netflix has been widely lauded for offering a year of paid maternity and paternity leave to new parents. It also allows people to return part-time or full-time or take leave as needed throughout the year.
Several companies now offer at least 4-6 months of paid maternity leave to their employees. They also offer various programs to ensure that the return to work is smooth and the work remains meaningful.
In addition to paid leave, sabbaticals can be offered to employees who want to take time off and still have a job waiting for them when they come back. This is provided once after six or seven years of employment. It gives employees a much-needed break and pursue an activity that they are passionate about – be it travel, a charitable cause, further education or just time to spend with children. They can come back to work with a refreshed zeal!
Emergency situations like a bereavement in the family is a difficult time for the employee. It is unreasonable to expect them to fulfil work demands at such a time. Companies can best cope with such situations by:
The courtesy you extend to your employees will demonstrate company culture and will mirror in your client’s behaviour towards you.
Some companies offer two weeks mandatory vacation time that employees can use to their benefit. This ‘forced’ vacation will ensure that employees don’t experience a burn-out and come back refreshed with new ideas and perspectives.
Companies should have policies in place on the minimum time for a leave notice. This allows everyone to plan the projects during the period.
Projects, clients, presentations and deadlines are a part of the job. They do matter, but not as much as the emotional well-being of the person who is working hard to make it possible to achieve the common goal. Do look with a human perspective to resolve sensitive matters. Your employees will appreciate it and double their efforts to meet goals.
There are times when employees find it hard to find a favourable work-life balance by putting in 6 days a week in the office. Instead, offer a work-from-home day during the week where employees can continue to contribute positively while taking care of the little things at home that just have to be done.
Most of the top-rated companies with high employee engagement rate have one great policy that makes them a class apart. Airbnb offers a stipend of $2000 to travel and stay at any AirBnB listed property throughout the world. World Wildlife Fund lets employees take Fridays off, every other week. Accenture allows reassignment of employees as a part of their commitment to LGBTQ rights.
A company’s leave policy is an excellent reflection of its culture. It needs to be strategically structured to put the employees’ well-being before company profits. Investment in culture isn’t about gain or loss. It is about building a sustainable employer brand and ensuring that you retain talent, which in turn will boost your productivity!
]]>It is very similar to contributing to a group project in college. Every student (well, not every one of them), is assigned a role and contributes his/her own share to the overall goal. It is the professor’s job to extend criticism where it’s required, as well as recognize the effort that is being put into assembling the entire project. And if he neglects to do so, the students won’t have anything to work hard for the next time.
For an employer, supervising employees is no different than that of a college professor, grading students. Ignore recognising their efforts and rewarding them intermittently, and you will find yourself at the helm of demotivated employees, without the zeal to innovate or perform.
Most companies do have employee recognition programs in place. However, there are instances where the programs followed by companies might fail. You may be surprised by the rookie mistakes you might inevitably make, that could hamper the future productivity of your employees. Let’s get you acquainted with some of them.
Make sure you don’t make the following mistakes while devising an employee recognition program.
A competitive spirit isn’t always a bad thing to foster. While it could especially effective for sales teams, it is generally counterproductive across an organization. Over time, competitive reward programs create a group of disappointed ‘losers’, which erodes morale and engagement. It is ideal to reward excellence (performance), rather than winners (people).
Recognizing exceptional performances with a bonus isn’t always a bad idea. After all, the current workforce mostly belongs to the ‘millennial’ generation that demands competitive compensations.
But this can backfire, if employers don’t take the time to really develop relationships with team members beyond the standard, “I pay you for your time, effort, and results” model. If you reward excellent performance only with cash and pecuniary benefits, you’ll build a staff that works only for monetary gain. But if you want to forge a deeper commitment, you need to go beyond material rewards.
The spirit of “There is no ‘I’ in team” sounds very righteous. But let us go back to the group projects at college - where there is one student who toils day and night, and the others who merely reap the benefits of the former’s hard work. It is necessary to recognise individual efforts too and reward the employee for the same. Failing this, you might just destroy the morale of a high performer and your team will gain another slacker.
When it comes to running a company with an assortment of employees, you have to be at the top of your game. A good boss recognizes and rewards his staff. A great boss understands that different employees respond to different ways of encouragement. For some, it may be cash, for others, it may merely be a weekly word of encouragement. A few would also prefer some perks like paid leaves, or movie tickets!
As a supervisor, you have to move over the ‘one-size-fits-all’ philosophy.
Recognition works best when it’s delivered quickly. If you wait until that all-hands meeting to congratulate the last quarter’s top performers, good luck generating any real or lasting motivation! Also, specific commendations work better than anything more general. Thin phrases like “great team player” could actually drive your employees to disregard any efforts at recognition. Effective recognition programs need to be based on specific rewards for specific activities and behaviours. And let’s face - most of us have a short attention span and barely just remember what happened yesterday. That’s all the more reason to deliver concrete recognition in real time.
With a company having a large number of employees, it is a small, but an essential boost to the employees when their manager addresses them by their names. It is a very minute part of the operation of employee recognition, but certainly, never goes unnoticed.
Communication with your employees is an essential element - knowing them on a personal level and bridging the employer-employee gap should be your first step towards creating a work-friendly environment. This way, when your staff is indecisive about certain things, right from a minor doubt in how to perform the job they are trusted with to something major, like doubting their position in the field, they know they can always discuss it with their higher-ups.
The foremost aim of an organization should be to make their employees feel valued and respected. If they start believing that their absence would not make a difference to the company, they will not approach their work with the same zeal.
It is hard to find people who would say that they love their job. But it isn’t hard to comprehend that the ones who do, definitely fall under the category of those who have a committed supervisor; one who gives them credit when it is due.
]]>However, creating truly effective engagement strategies is no easy feat. For employee engagement initiatives to be successful, they must be tailored to the unique needs and motivations of each individual. Employee recognition is essential for motivating, retaining and fully engaging employees.
Thanks to the ever-developing age of digitisation, we are accustomed to real-time interactions in our daily lives. Given that ‘millennials’ make up a major chunk of the workforce, employees expect – and respond – to the same approach when it comes to recognizing their contributions to the workplace.
This means the days of annual appraisals and salary as the sole driver for employees are behind us. Newer demographics in the workplace want continual coaching, conversations and communication – they need agile performance management and instantaneous feedback. Engaged employees voluntarily invest extra time, effort and initiative to contribute to business success. They feel a sense of purpose within their role, and bring enthusiasm, passion and energy to the work they do.
As well as being more motivated, committed and loyal, engaged workers are typically better performers and produce better results for both the customer and the company. The following factors can help increase employee engagement in your organisation.
By incorporating the following, you are sure to increase employee engagement at your workplace by 5 times!
Competent, passionate and hands-on leadership is critical to employee engagement and not Bosses. Showing a genuine interest in your employees and investing time in understanding their needs and aspirations will help send the message that their contribution is valued, creating goodwill and a desire to succeed – both as an individual and as part of a team.
Check in on them regularly to find out how their experience in the workplace can be improved. This can be done informally, by participating in a casual conversation or via occasional non-work activities. Find out what motivates them by instigating more formal employee surveys and avenues for feedback. Make a point of finding out how your employees define success so you can create a rewarding environment in which they can thrive.
“Walking the walk” is the single most effective employee engagement strategy any company can deploy. Employees must see the leadership demonstrating the characteristics and behaviours everyone else is being asked to display. In companies where leaders model the desired behaviour, employees are 55 percent more engaged, 53 percent more focused and more likely to stay at the company.
A guaranteed way to disengage staff is to let them feel underused. Engaged employees are those who are given the opportunity to adequately use their skills, and are encouraged to stretch those skills in order to progress.
Talk to your employees about their career plan. Does their current role make full use of their strengths and abilities? If not, come up with a plan to expand the role description. Is their career moving in the direction they desire? Try and map out a path within your organisation and agree on targets for promotion. Are there new or interesting projects they can work on to expand their skill set? Perhaps a transfer to a different department or location will give them the variety they need to maintain engagement.
Discuss the training and development opportunities that can help them advance within the company, and provide clear and consistent feedback on how they can improve their performance. Ultimately, showing that you care about helping employees maintain job satisfaction will reap rewards.
Engaged employees believe that the work they are doing is important and has value. They feel they are contributing to something meaningful and take pride in the results of their efforts.
As a manager, it is crucial to frequently reinforce the importance of your employees’ roles to the organisation as a whole. Help them to see the direct connection between their activities and company success, and the ways in which even the smallest tasks can contribute.
Set goals and challenge your employees to meet them to promote a sense of purpose. Grant them the autonomy to improve the way things are done to help them feel trusted and respected, and involve them in decisions that provide a sense of ownership over the direction of the company.
Management transparency has a direct 94 percent correlation with employee happiness. Trusting employees with sensitive information gives them a sense of deeper investment in the company and helps to create a more cooperative team atmosphere, as opposed to an “us versus them” perception of the management-employee relationship.
Companies are made up of people, not products, machines or property. Genuine relationships between employees and their supervisors and management inspire trust and build camaraderie.
Give employees the freedom to adjust their work schedules or location to better suit their needs. Many employers don’t trust employees to get work done if they work from home or set their own hours, but statistically, workers with flexible hours and locations are more productive, happier and more engaged than 8-to-5 cubicle jockeys.
Celebrate the personal milestones of your employees. In fact, a study found that managers who showed their human side were rated 59 points higher on critical skills among employees.
For employees to be motivated to give their best, they need to know their efforts will be recognised and rewarded. Regularly thanking them for their efforts demonstrates your awareness of their hard work and provides encouragement for them to boost their performance.
Make the time to celebrate accomplishments, rewarding and recognising employees in ways that are meaningful to them. The celebrations don’t have to be lavish to be meaningful – ordering in a team lunch, sharing wins with the wider business or presenting someone with a small gift or a unique trophy/plaque for achieving a milestone goes a long way to making people feel recognised and rewarded.
While competitive pay and good benefits are key motivating factors in accepting a job, providing incentives for higher performance gives employees something extra to strive for and helps them stay engaged for a longer period. Employees with supportive supervisors are 1.3 times more likely to stay with the company and are 67 percent more engaged.
Having fun together not only breaks up the routine but also encourages creativity and collaboration. Sponsor a company softball tournament or host a monthly "dress-up day," where employees can wear their ugliest sweater or sport a crazy hair colour. Of course, management must also get in on the action, which further contributes to authenticity, visibility and communication.
At the heart of all employee engagement initiatives is communication. Good leaders should take time to find out what motivates their team and what their career goals are. Apply this knowledge to create opportunities for development and reinforce the value of an employee's contribution. Provide challenges and rewards to stimulate your team and foster a supportive environment where the staff wants to succeed – a company's best asset is an engaged workforce.
]]>One way to look at this phenomenon is that it allows you to club travel and work. In other words, you stay productive while having a good time on the side.
The flip side is that you are travelling to a beach to (sadly) work and not enjoy the break.
There are many debates regarding this unique style of working. Corporates think it is cool to add a workation as a part of their culture. It’ll ease out an employee’s travel costs while they continue to contribute even during vacation time.
Employees think of it as a fun way to travel, see a new place, cut travel costs, work on the side and keep bosses impressed with their work ethics.
With laptops and readily available internet connectivity, it is actually quite difficult to switch-off work and take a break anyway.
People do get those ‘important’ calls that take away half their day. Then why not make it worth their while with a workation?
An employee can opt for any of the following types of workations.
Both of these go against everything we’ve known about a work-life balance. They make you stay connected to work, no matter where you are. Despite this, workations are gaining popularity, especially among young millennials. People like to take a very positive outlook on the concept.
It allows them to find the middle ground between work and travel.
The company and the employee both benefit from the arrangement. And, of course, all those instagrammable pics of you enjoying your workation are regarded with envy! This social vindication makes people think of it as an acceptable norm rather than an exception.
Despite the popularity of the concept, it is important to note that a workation may not be everybody’s idea of bliss.
It may not be ideal to always club work with a vacation - there are times when an employee should be able to disconnect entirely from the workplace and focus on other important things in life! Which is why workations aren’t all that great for employees with families. They’d prefer spending free time with their loved ones, over relaxing on a beach and staring at a laptop screen.
The idea is to understand if the concept would be acceptable in the workplace. If it works for you, these are a few ways in which workations can be implemented.
Here are a few ways you can encourage employees to take a ‘workation’.
Retreats have been around for many years. Employees are flown to a luxury location with exciting amenities and good food which puts them in a great mood. Once they are set, work is done during select hours of the day, and they get the rest of the time off to enjoy their stay. You could also organise team building activities to strengthen the bond between employees.
They also get to extend their workation into a vacation for a couple of days by paying corporate rates instead of regular ones which gets them a steal deal. In the end, the company receives a refreshed and rejuvenated employee while the employee gets a great vacation.
Junkets are trips that are sponsored mostly by company partners. Journalists often get invited to international outings where they can visit the client, know their story and write about it when they come back. These are usually more play than work.
Junkets are a win-win for everyone. The partner involved gets editorial coverage which is much more valuable than an advertisement. The journalist gets to travel to exciting destinations where itineraries are mostly planned to mix work and travel. The company gets to keep everyone happy.
MICE (Meetings Incentives Conferences Events) give an excellent opportunity for the company to expose employees at all levels to on-ground realities. At such events, employees get to interact with clients, customers, partners and even competitors. They gain valuable experience by answering unexpected questions and also get to build their own and their company’s brand and network for business. It is a bonus if such events are held at a location that allows room for sightseeing or relaxing during downtime.
Workations can be successful only if the relationship is mutually beneficial. Here are a few tips.
You can ask your Human Resources team to set up policies that set expectations on how workations are handled for the company. The transparency allows everyone to plan in advance.
Workations may vary from each other depending on the nature of work. You can collaborate with employees and come to a mutual understanding which is acknowledged on paper or email.
An employer needs to extend some amount of flexibility to ensure local work conditions are taken into factor. An employee needs to understand that certain unplanned work may crop up and cause a change of plans. As long as priorities are set, both situations should get resolved without conflict.
It’s best to take a balanced approach. Workations may be alright in the case of employees who hold critical posts in the company, and may not be able to take a vacation too often. It is important to note, however, that such employees might also find workations irksome if they travel regularly for conferences, events, etc. as part of their jobs. The ideal way is to analyse the effectiveness of implementing a workation in your company, by taking the opinions of the people who’d be most affected by it - your employees.
]]>To be recognised for one’s good work is a human need. Given that millennials form a major chunk of the workforce, there is increased emphasis on recognition. Employees respond positively to appreciation because they feel that their work is valued. This leads to motivated and engaged employees.
In today’s ever-challenging economy, implementing successful employee recognition programs is a must. But what about the ROI (Return On Investment) on these programs? Can it be measured? You could be spending an x amount per employee every year to recognise their work in various ways. Isn’t it important to have quantifiable results backed by credible metrics to justify the continuation of these practices?
Let’s find out how the ROI on employee recognition programs can be evaluated.
Having an employee engagement strategy is not enough. Many companies are still aimlessly investing in unplanned engagement efforts that seem to provide zero ROI.
If you are looking to incorporate employee recognition program in your company, make sure to focus on essential performance indicators that can be measured. Let’s look at each such indicator in detail below.
As per the findings of a recent study, organisations with employee recognition programs have 23.4% less turnover than organisations without. Is this not a good enough indicator of how a great recognition strategy ultimately impacts your ROI?
The company already incurs huge costs undertaking recruitment and training of employees. It is a massive setback if the best of your talent leave the organisation.
An email acknowledging the achievements of your employees is one of the battle-tested ways of showing recognition and still works well. It not only boosts employee morale but also paves the way for a long-standing trust your employees will place in you.
In a recent study by Forbes, companies that scored in the top 20% for building a recognition-rich culture enjoyed a 31% lower turnover rate.
A reduced turnover rate means lesser recruitment costs and more productive employees, which will directly impact your ROI positively. A proper assessment of the turnover rate before and after implementing a recognition program will give clear and measurable results.
An employee is positively engaged with a company if he is aligned with the organisation’s goals and is loyal towards the success of the company. Engaged employees perform at their level best each day by bringing passion into their work often leading to innovative practices.
According to the recent State of the Global Workplace report, 85% of the employees are not engaged or actively disengaged at work. 18% are actively disengaged in their work and workplace, while 67% are ‘not engaged’.
One of the best ways to get employee engagement right at the workplace is to get performance management right. And the potential impact on the bottom line is significant. Organisations with highly engaged employees have 50% higher productivity, 20% higher sales, 44% higher profitability and 44% higher customer satisfaction. These organisations achieve earnings per share growth that is more than four times that of their competitors.
In one of the surveys, when asked what leaders could do more of to improve engagement, 58% respondents replied: “Give Recognition”.
Recognising employees with trophies, plaques and keepsakes designed to highlight the importance of their achievements goes a long way in keeping them motivated, thereby impacting the ROI.
The product that you sell is the focal point of your business. The various departments in your organisation are all aligned towards making that product better every day and sell for itself by creating a brand out of it.
A great employee recognition program instils a sense of ownership amongst the employees and paves way for increased customer satisfaction. They work with motivation every day and are committed to contributing effectively. This, in turn, increases sales resulting in a strong bottom line.
The single most important goal of any business is to earn profits by selling their products and having a huge customer base. This is reiterated with best recognition practices being followed.
The absence of innovation will soon render any workplace and their employees unproductive. Change is the only constant, and it is of utmost importance to keep revisiting and improvising strategies and practices in this challenging economy.
Research states that employees who receive strong recognition are 33% more likely to be proactively innovating, generating two times as many ideas per month as compared to those who aren’t recognized well. Further, companies that provide effective performance recognition are more than two times likely to be highly innovative.
When asked which benefit would do the most to encourage innovation and efficiency, employees reports were:
All of this will, in turn, lead to innovations and increased productivity.
If your company is filled with employees coming up with innovative practices, the chances are that your employee recognition practices are on the right track and your ROI is strong.
A brand represents the sum of people’s perception of a company’s customer service, reputation, advertising and their employees. Happy and engaged employees will paint a positive image of an organisation and reflect a high brand value.
To have a great brand value outside, work for a high brand value on the inside first. Your employees are your first Customers, and a satisfied Customer is the best business strategy of all! A positive employee recognition program reinforces a sense of care and belongingness for the Organisation.
Engraved plaques, merchandise that carries the company logo and even certificates of appreciation are excellent ways to show recognition for employees’ work and convey the fact that they ‘belong’ to the company.
The true measure of a company’s brand value can be assessed by the employees working there. They know the pulse of the company and also serves as a measure of checking engaged employees.
ROI of employee recognition programs can indeed be measured in terms of reduced turnover, reduced absenteeism, improved employee morale, engaged employees and increased brand value of an organisation.
]]>There could be multiple reasons to love or hate a job. If we go by the famous quote above, then a person whose passion and profession are same is indeed a happy person. Given that ‘millennials’ form a major chunk of the workforce, there is an additional emphasis on ‘doing what one loves’. However, not many are lucky enough to have a job that makes them happy and also pays their bills. Most have to learn to love it. Here are some of the reasons why an employee may love his/her job!
While the reasons differ from individual to individual, these are some of the general reasons why an employee may be in love with his/her job!
People love challenges and when they can solve problems and put their skills to good use, they love their jobs. Employees love jobs that provide variety, and where they can learn something new every day.
Employees love a job if they have a kind, compassionate and considerate boss. They love when their boss allows them to experience challenges and appreciates their efforts and hard work.
Being able to get along with work colleagues makes life at work easier. However, in a situation where one can't tolerate co-workers, it can make life miserable. When employees are made to feel as a part of a “team” and believe everyone is marching towards the same goal, they love it. Talented and caring coworkers make a lot of difference.
Employees find satisfaction in doing a job in which they feel they made a difference. Helping others and achieving a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day makes their hard work worthwhile.
This is perhaps among the top reasons for many employees. Employees do love a job if the payment is on par with their performance. Better bonus or incentives also help in employees being motivated and liking, if not loving, a job.
Employees prefer an organisation that has an open culture which allows them to participate, express their views and is open to feedback. A workplace that adapts with time and allows the employees to work on flexi-hours are preferred over the ones with strict policies.
A workplace that values their personal time, cares for their well being, understands that they have commitments for family, beyond the work hours are always preferred by the employees.
In addition to this, employees also love jobs where their efforts are recognised and duly rewarded.
Employees quit their job for many reasons. They follow spouses or partners across the country, stay home with children, change careers, find upwardly mobile career promotions, and go back to school. Those reasons are tough to address by an employer because they involve life events in the employee’s world outside of work. But, the majority of reasons why employees quit their job are under the control of the employer.
Employees don’t need to be friends with their boss but they need to have a relationship. The boss is too much of an integral part of their daily lives at work for an uncomfortable relationship.
The boss provides direction and feedback, spends time in one-to-one meetings, and connects the employee to the larger organization. To have a toxic relationship with the person an employee reports to undermines the employee’s engagement, confidence, and commitment.
If a job isn't challenging enough, an employee might be tempted to look for another job that pushes their limits. No one wants to be bored and unchallenged by their work. Employees spend more than a third of their days working, getting ready for work, and transporting themselves to work. So they want to enjoy their job. An employee needs to be engaged, excited and challenged to contribute, create, and perform. Otherwise, they lose interest in the job.
The coworker with whom an employee sits, interacts, and serves on teams, are critical components of an employee’s work environment. having a best friend at work makes things easier at work. Relationships with coworkers retain employees. However, a strained relationship with coworkers can cause attrition.
When employees use their significant skills and abilities on the job, they feel a sense of pride, accomplishment, and self-confidence. They are participating in activities that they are good at and that stretch their skills and abilities even further.
Employees want to develop and grow their skills. If they’re not able to do this on jobs, they’ll find one where they can. If an employee can’t see a path to continued growth in their current organization, they are likely to look elsewhere for a career development or promotion opportunity.
Employees need to feel connected and that they are part of an effort that is larger than just their job. They need to feel as if they matter in the larger picture of the organization.
Too many managers assume that the employee will receive the communication about the vision, mission, and overall plan from executive staff and make this leap. They don’t. They can't. They need help to understand and connect their job to the bigger picture. If they’re not part of it, they will leave.
Employees need to feel like they can independently get the job done rather than have their manager follow them around scrutinising everything they do.
A lack of recognition can affect many of the above factors, especially culture, but it’s probably not the deciding factor in an employee's decision to leave an organization. Lots of genuine appreciation and recognition help an employee to stick to an organisation.
Not all employee leave due to the fault of the employer. Some leave due to personal reasons like shifting to some other city or finding a job nearer to home, finding a better job elsewhere, change in career, further their education, health issues, some personal loss etc.
There are so many reasons why employees decide to leave a company. Sometimes employers can't do anything about it but they can create a positive working environment to help reduce the chances of someone wanting to leave. Not all will love the job always but at least they won’t leave at the drop of a hat if the working environment is compatible.
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